The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1887-07-06
MRS. SHARP'S SORROW.
She Tells of Her Long, Happy Life with
the Convicted Man.
New York World |


New York World
Only twice during recent years has favor
been shown to prisoners in Ludlow Street
Jail to the extent of allowing a mans wife
TO share his imprisonment. Both of these
executions were in notable cases. The Erst
was when gay, handsome, fashionable Mrs.
Ferdinand Ward remained with her hu5-
band to nurse him through the illness
which overlook him there. The sc cond
case is that at present before our eyes 1.-The
frail, loving old wife of Jacob Sharp shar-
ing his confinement
To one upon whom such burden has
never come, the presence of Mrs. Sharp in
the county jail with her convicted husband
seems only a most natural and easy thing,
but it is proving to her burden almost
greater than she can bear. Mrs. Sharp re-
mains beside her husband every night
and all night-sitting by his bedside,
eagerly anticipating his every wish.
"God gave me my dear husband" she
says to all who try to comfort her, ''and he
has gwen us great happiness together. l
trust him."
Mrs. Sharp is adelicate woman, digni6ed
and charming for one who must certainly
be nearly seventy years old. When
woman and stranger sent in card on
Wednesday morning word came back at
once: Mrs. Sharp does not remember
the name, but she will be glad to receive
YOU" And when the visitor entered the
cheerful breakfast-room that looks out
upon the courtyard in the center of the
| Jail Mrs. Sharp stood with hand out
stretched to a woman she never saw be-
| fore.
"What can do for you, my child?' she
said.
There was no smile on the delicate, pale
face, and the voice was weak and almost
| broken, but the look rs well as the tone
| was that OF gentle woman whose first
| thought. even in her trouble, was that she
could "be of use" to some one else. The
unconventional speech made the converse
ton that would so easily have been strained
natural and free. Mrs. Sharp very soon
| spoke of her "dear husband, as she always
| called him, in the tenderest and most uu.
affected way. At the same time she spoke
feelingly of the burden that they have been
carrying together and which has seemed
so unnecessarily severe. They are killing
Us BOTH" she said passionately. "We are
| old people now, and every stroke tells
upon u.s." Mrs. Sharp speaks of herself in
this way, as if she were very near the end
OF the days she might expect to be granted
her, but no one seeing her for the frat
| time would think of her as being "old."
Indeed, man who has seen her anumber
| of times about the Jail, spoke OF her as be-
| ing about forty-eight or fifty years of age.
Her hair is quite gray now, and is worn in
| soft waves about her face. Her eyes are
| gray and clear, real womanly eyes
| Her nose Is straight and fine and
! the whole type of face is, as near as it may
be expressed, that which is always recog.
nized as belonging to "a New England
| lady," Not the strong, determined New
England woman's face, but the quiet, re-
| fined, somewhat pensive countenance that
follows years of repression, thoughtfulness
ard care. In height Mrs. Sharp
| is about five feet two or three,
ard in figure neither generous nor
slight. In short, taken all in all, the
wife of this man, whose name is on every
! tongue, is just the woman whom his dis
/ grace most cruelty hurts, but whose love
| will outlast it all. Dignified, sympathetic,
loving and a christian woman, it is small
wonder that the bond between them should
be so close. How close this bond has been
| Mrs. Sharp's own words tell best. Speak
| ing of their happy life together she said:
I'VE have been so happy, my dear hus-
band and 1. He has been everything to
me that woman could ask or desire. My
| every wish, my slightest fancy, it has
always been his pleasure TO fuInll. Ga, we
| bad been looking forward so to next year
| Fifty years we should have been married
| the 23d of next March
SHOULD have been, Mrs. Sharp2'
"Yes, yes should hive beenr 1t is kill
| ing my dear husband before my eyes, this
terrible trouble, and l know that If any,
thing should happen to him / should soon
| go TO. We have been happy too long for
| one to be content without the other now"
"But surely, you do not feel so seriously
alarmed about Mr.. Sharp's condition. He
| is not worse?'
Not worse perhaps in one way, but he is
| so weak. No one but myself aud his ply
| sicians know how weak. He has been so
brave about it, so almost foolishly brave
| Ii has seemed sometimes to me as if he
did not realize what it meant; he
| has been go strict about allowing
| snything to be done that could pos
| sibly be construed into q desire for
| effect. He has not allowed me to go to the
courtroom for fear partly of the effect it
would have on me, and partly for fear it
would seem like trying to create sympathy,
| He has sat bolt upright in his seat for
hours when he was positively unfit to be
| out of his bed, and he has been as CHEEKY
and as helpful to me as he could be. Not
even to me has he complained of the un-
necessary things that have been done to
make the disgrace more deep and in
| famous"
Even while she talked, Mrs. Sharp kept
| gIancing anxiously at the room wherein
her husband was trying vainly to get
little rest. As she finished speaking the
trim young woman, who had been laying
the table, motioned to her, but Mrs. SHARP
waved her away. 1t seemed as IL it were a
relief 20 her to speak and speak freely.
"Oh, IL they only knew him as l know
him." she continued. 81 have been his
wife for nearly fifty years and have been
his confidential friend as well, but l have
never known him to even think of doing
anything that was not honorable. Even
| in the most trivial things he has believed
that what he has said he would do, he must
| do, and that he would not say he would do
any thing that was not right. He has been
honor itself. He has practiced always
what he preached, and he has tried to
bring up his children to believe and act as
he does"
Before go, Mrs. Sharp" said the visi-
| tor, warmly, "is there anything that / or
any one else could do for your
"Nothing-nothing. thank you for
coming. It has been a comfort to me.
They have been very confederate and kind
| to us here, bat IL Is horrible substitute